Chapter 1: Childbirth

Childbirth

"Doctor! Doctor! I feel like I'm about to give birth!"

A heart-wrenching scream echoed through the dim little clinic. A woman covered in blood and filth was tied to a rusted delivery chair, twisting and struggling.

"Hurry! Doctor, come and take a look, he's coming out!!"

"Why aren't you coming over yet! Doctor! Doctor!? Are you even a doctor?? Turn around and take a look!!"

The pregnant woman's screams grew sharper, and her struggles became increasingly frantic. Yet, the doctor standing to the side never once turned back to look at her. He simply nodded and replied in a slow, perfunctory manner:

"Right, right, I'm coming, don't be anxious. I'm preparing the delivery tools. My dear lady, you wouldn't want your child to fall onto the floor the moment they're born, would you?"

This sentence seemed to have a lethal effect on the increasingly hysterical pregnant woman. Her frantic momentum stalled, and her reddened eyes gradually regained clarity. Her pupils rotated mechanically and slowly, eventually looking down at her own belly, and she responded in a somewhat dazed state:

"Child... right, child... the child can't fall on the floor, I'm going to give birth, the child can't fall on the floor..."

She repeated this sentence over and over, her emotions gradually stabilizing. Before long, the small clinic fell silent again, leaving only the "clanging" sound of metal being struck.

This was the doctor making the delivery tools.

Fine sparks splashed out from in front of the doctor, momentarily lighting up the dim space.

The pregnant woman's attention was drawn by the sparks. She clutched her belly and turned to look at the doctor's back. Her eyes began to turn red again, and her expression slowly became ferocious once more.

"Doctor! What are you doing! What are you doing!?"

"Me? Didn't I tell you? I'm preparing the delivery tools. There are too many patients in the clinic lately, and the nurses have all gone to help out. I have to do these odd jobs myself."

As he spoke, the doctor turned around and displayed the rough steel saw he had just hammered into shape to the pregnant woman. A sunny, cheerful smile bloomed on his face as he said with some pride:

"Look, it's ready."

The moment the pregnant woman saw the steel saw, her whole body suddenly began to convulse. The leather straps pulled against the rusted chair as she struggled, producing a teeth-grinding friction sound.

Her legs kicked wildly, splashing the filth and blood on her body everywhere.

"What are you doing! That's not a delivery tool! What are you doing!!"

"My lady, please look closely. This is a delivery palace saw."

The doctor approached the pregnant woman, carrying the steel saw. His gaze lingered on the irregular teeth as if he were admiring a work of art. At the same time, he clicked his tongue in admiration:

"This is the most cutting-edge delivery technique published in *SCIENCE*. We only need to use this palace saw to cut open your belly, and your child can be born on the delivery chair safe and sound. This avoids the tragedy of the child falling to the floor during a natural birth from the source and reduces the risk of infection;

Furthermore, these sharp teeth can enlarge the incision, ensuring the child's head won't get stuck due to a lack of space during the birth process."

The doctor measured the pregnant woman's belly with the tool and smiled, squinting:

"Most importantly, this plan currently has zero negative reviews."

"Child... safe... my child... will be safe..."

"Yes, my lady, please rest assured. I am the most experienced delivery doctor in the entire clinic. I will definitely ensure the safety of your child."

Having received the promise, the pregnant woman suddenly became excited. She slapped her belly, which was distended like a small mountain, and stretched her head forward, shouting impatiently:

"Hurry! Hurry and deliver the baby! My child is coming out! Hurry, Doctor!! Hurry!"

"It is my honor to serve you."

The doctor held the rough steel saw, his hands not shaking in the slightest, and then lightly touched her skin, skillfully slicing upward.

"Ssh—"

A thin, long line of blood snaked upward, and the ripe watermelon split open at the touch.

Immediately after!

"Bang—"

The body, unable to bear the weight, exploded with a roar like a punctured balloon, splashing filth and blood everywhere.

She wasn't dead yet.

She screamed in agony, her hands and feet struggling in unison. She looked at the doctor with malicious and terrified eyes, roaring frantically:

"What are you doing? What are you doing!? You want to kill me! You want to kill my child!!"

The doctor's body was sprayed with blood, but his face remained remarkably clean. He gently moved the steel saw that was blocking his face and smiled again to comfort the patient:

"My lady, it's truly heartbreaking for you to say that. I am saving you and your child. Look, your child... has been born safely."

The pregnant woman's frantic movements stalled. She looked toward her belly with extreme joy, only to see a pair of massive, pure black eyes blinking back at her from within the abdominal cavity filled with rotting flesh.

These eyes were very clear and spirited, quite captivating.

If the main body wasn't a writhing tentacle, it might have been even more endearing.

Looking at the terrifying newborn that resembled an octopus tentacle, the doctor smiled knowingly and praised:

"Look, your child is so healthy, the eyes are bright and spirited. At a glance, it's a... uh... it's a... big-eyed one."

The surprise on the pregnant woman's face froze for a moment due to this nonsensical praise, but this in no way hindered her from expressing the overflowing love she felt for her child.

From her gaunt eye sockets, joyful black blood overflowed.

"Child! My child!!"

"Right, it's your child."

"Bring my child over! I want to see him! Is it a boy or a girl?"

Hearing this, the doctor's smile stalled, and a hint of hesitation appeared on his face.

Logically speaking, if one had to assign a gender to an octopus tentacle...

"Congratulations, my lady, it's a... boy... with a handle."

It did indeed have a handle; in fact, it was essentially a handle itself.

"A boy... a boy!?"

The pregnant woman's tone rose again. Even suffering from severe injuries couldn't stop her from twisting and struggling. A frantic expression crawled onto her terrifying, thin face, which was covered in filth and blood.

"Why is it a boy! Why would it be a boy?! She was clearly supposed to be a girl! It's you! It must be your delivery technique that's the problem! It's you!! You quack!"

Perhaps sensing its mother's anger, the newborn lying in the pool of blood blinked innocently.

You have to admit, if you don't look at the body and only look at the eyes, it's actually quite cute.

The doctor shook his head at this scene, which left him between laughter and tears, and sighed:

"My lady, you should know that the child's gender is determined by the parents, not the doctor. Perhaps you should ask the child's father."

"The child's father..." The pregnant woman's eyes went blank for a moment, and then she suddenly began to laugh maliciously.

"He's gone... I ate him... Hahaha, he's dead! That man, he actually wanted to be the child's mother... He's not worthy, only I can be the mother..."

"... Hmm... Hmm?"

"He's gone... I can't find him... Hahaha, he's disappeared... I am the child's mother!"

The doctor's CPU overloaded for a moment.

But his solid professional training allowed him to quickly seize the business opportunity. He raised an eyebrow and said with some excitement:

"If it's just a simple death, our clinic can provide you with a special service to consult the dead, my lady. You still have a chance to ask him why your child is a boy.

However, this service might be a bit expensive.

But I think, for the sake of the child, everything is worth it..."

He pitched the service hard, as if he would get a large cut of the money once this order was completed.

Perhaps moved by the doctor's sincerity, the pregnant woman's gaze switched between venomous and dazed several times, but in the end, she nodded like a walking corpse.

"My child, there must be an explanation. What do I do! Hurry, Doctor, I want to go ask him!"

"Very well, my lady. First, please close your eyes."

Watching the pregnant woman close her eyes with some hesitation, the doctor's mouth curled into an eerie smile.

He held the steel saw and moved the rough teeth back to her neck.

"Then take a deep breath... right, right, very good. Tilt your head back, right, lift your neck a bit higher. Good, don't be anxious, right away..."

"Ssh..."

The doctor's hand shook slightly.

Plop... something fell.

Filthy blood splashed out, creating a beautiful cinnabar painting on the snow-white wall.

"Uh... although there was a small accident, the surgery went very smoothly. My lady, you can go find the child's father now."

The doctor clicked his tongue lightly, wiped his blood-stained hands on his white coat, and glanced at the head on the ground.

"Yuck, how scary."

He hurriedly kicked it away, then raised the steel saw and turned to look at the tentacle on the patient's corpse.

The big eyes were still blinking. It seemed it hadn't realized what the situation was, or perhaps it simply lacked cognitive ability.

"I said just now that this service is a bit expensive. Your mother hasn't paid yet, but she might not be able to come back for a while.

How about... you pay for her?"

Although it lacked cognitive ability, when it sensed the approach of death, the newborn instinctively struggled violently.

It's just that in the doctor's eyes, this struggle was more like an invitation.

The more the fish on the chopping block jumped, the more enthusiastic the fisherman became.

"Ssh—"

The doctor pierced its body without hesitation. The new tentacle convulsed in pain, and before long, those cute big eyes completely lost their luster and became motionless.

On the day it embraced birth, it also embraced death.

"Transaction complete, thank you for your patronage!"

The doctor bowed elegantly, threw away the steel saw in his hand, and walked out of the dim room without looking back.

【Solo Trial (Scraps 【Birth】) Challenge Successful】

【Scoring, and settling rewards...】

【Player: Cheng Shi, Performance Score: S】

【Obtained Food: Finger Bread (C) X5】

【Obtained Food: Canned Slime Drink (C) X5】

【Obtained Food: Fake Eyeball Cake (B) X1】

【Path to Divinity +0, Ladder of Audience +0】 (Solo trials do not increase scores)

【Current Path to Divinity Score: 2104, Global Ranking: 499713】

【Current Ladder of Audience Score: 156, Fate Ranking: 74】

【Trial cleared, exiting soon】 ===== CHAPTER 2 =====